People Are Applauding The Five Members Of The Men's Hockey Team Who Declined Trump's Invitation—And Most Have One Important Thing In Common

Five members of the U.S. men's ice hockey team did not join President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday, and eagle-eyed social media users are celebrating them while noting one important thing they have in common.

The team's visit to the White House was dogged by controversy when Trump phoned them Sunday night to invite them to attend his State of the Union address and quipped that failing to invite the women as well might "get him impeached."

Americans had beaten Canada to claim gold in Thursday’s Olympic women’s hockey final but Trump didn't celebrate that when he said the following via speakerphone while FBI Director Kash Patel partied with the men's team following their own gold medal victory:

"I’ll tell you what, I just told my people two minutes ago, I said, we’re giving the State of the Union speech Tuesday night. I could send a military plane or something, but if you would like to, it’s the coolest night."

"We’ll get Kash or we’ll get the military to get you guys. What would really be cool, and we’ll do the White House next time, we’ll just have some fun, we have medals for you guys. And we have to, I must tell you, we’re gonna have to bring the women’s team, you do know that?”

“I do believe that I would probably be impeached [if the women’s team was not invited]."

Most members of the team—those who accepted Trump's invitation, that is—got an Oval Office meeting and an apparent tour of the White House.

They also received a standing ovation when they entered the House chamber during the State of the Union address.

But not all of the men attended the gathering.

Neither Kyle Connor of the Winnipeg Jets, Jake Guentzel of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Jackson LaCombe of the Anaheim Ducks, Brock Nelson of the Colorado Avalanche, nor Jake Oettinger of the Dallas Stars attended. Connor in particular told The Athletic that Wednesday marks "a big second half so I just wanted to make sure I was ready.”

Notably, Nelson, Lacombe, Guentzel and Oettinger all either hail from Minnesota or spent much of their formative years there, a state that has recently become a focal point of ICE's terror campaign under Trump’s administration.

In the last few weeks, protests raged in Minneapolis after ICE agents killed American citizens Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti and federal law enforcement detained citizens and non-citizens alike, including 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, who was eventually released from a Texas detention center following a coordinated effort among Democrats in response to nationwide outrage.

But while none of the players pointed to the political climate as their reason for staying away from Trump’s address, their absence—coming on the heels of his brusque treatment of the women’s team’s victory—earned them public praise.

As expected, Trump brought up Minnesota during his address, describing it as a place with "the kind of corruption that shreds the fabric of a nation."

Those five players would no doubt disagree.